Brooklyn Nets' Deron Williams was dominant against Chicago in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first round. / Seth Wenig AP

by USA TODAY Sports staff and wire, USA TODAY

by USA TODAY Sports staff and wire, USA TODAY

It seems like a long time ago that Deron Williams was considered a disappointment, an overpaid and underperforming player for the Brooklyn Nets.

After Saturday's performance at the Barclays Center, that might not come up again.

Williams finished with 22 points and seven assists as the Nets emphatically beat the Chicago Bulls 106-89 to take a 1-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first round series.

"That's a hell of a performance," Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said of Williams.

The moment of the game came near the end of the third quarter when Williams ripped the ball away from Luol Deng, broke away from everyone and scored on a reverse dunk.

It was that kind of night for the Nets, who led by 25 at halftime and pretty much poured it on in the fourth quarter.

Chicago is a team with a reputation of playing good defense and yet the Nets shot 56% from the floor The issue for the Bulls was not only couldn't they stop Brooklyn, but with the exception of Carlos Boozer -- who was aggressively driving to the basket and was consistent with his shooting and finished with 25 points -- they couldn't get anything going offensively.

"It was the end of the first (quarter) and they hit us with a haymaker, got us back on our heels," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "So end of the first, second quarter, poor defense, poor intensity, poor energy on offense. You can't win like that."

Joakim Noah has battled plantar fasciitis in his right foot and Thibodeau said he didn't want his All-Star center playing if he was injured. But Noah, who grew up in New York, wanted to give it a try. He finished with four points.

"The thing is he hasn't practiced so he's going to be rusty, but I'd rather have him out there. Whatever he can give us is a plus," Thibodeau said. "We didn't play well. It wasn't Jo, it was our team. So he's a big plus for our team, so we'd like to have him out there. We've got to play better. Everyone has to play better."